‘Major’ IBM breakthrough breathes new life into Moore’s Law…

What’s This?

Close-up view of the structure of a carbon nanotube.

Image: Science Picture Co., Corbis

By Lance Ulanoff1 day ago

Silicon is dead. Long live, carbon nanotubes.

In transistors, size matters — a lot. You can’t squeeze more silicon transistors (think billions of them) into a processor unless you can make them smaller, but the smaller these transistors get, the higher the resistance between contacts, which means the current can’t flow freely through them and, in essence, the transistors and chips built based on them, can no longer do their jobs. Ultra-tiny carbon nanotube transistors, though are poised to solve the size issue.

In a paper published on Thursday in the journal Science, IBM scientists announced they had found a way to reduce the contact length of carbon nanotube transistors — a key component of the tech and the one that most impacts resistance — down to 9 nanometers without increasing resistance at all. To put this in perspective, contact length on traditional, silicon-based 14nm node technology (something akin to Intel’s 14nm technology) currently sits at about 25 nanometers.

“In the silicon space, the contact resistance is very low if the contact is very long. If contact is very short, the resistance shoots up very quickly and gets large. So you have trouble getting current through the device,” Wilfried Haensch, IBM Senior Manager, Physics & Materials for Logic and Communications, told me.

Because of their unique properties,

carbon nanotubes, which happen to be 10,000 times thinner than a single strand of human hair, have been a promising tech for continuing Moore’s Law

carbon nanotubes, which happen to be 10,000 times thinner than a single strand of human hair, have been a promising tech for continuing Moore’s Law, which roughly states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit will double every two years. However, according to Haensch, the technology faces considerable hurdles before it can be considered appropriate for commercial integrated circuit development.

First of all, the creation of tubes you can use in semiconductors isn’t easy. Haensch told me the current yields for useful material are still well below what they need. They also have to work out how to place the nanotubes 10nm apart or less on a wafer. Thirdly, they have to be able to scale devices based on carbon nanotubes to competitive dimensions.

There are actually two size issues to manage in chip scalability: Transistor gate and contact length. IBM solved the gate issue two years ago. “Scalability of contact was the last challenge on scalability,” said Haensch, and now IBM scientists report they’ve solved that, too. In their experiments, IBM scientists shrunk the contact length down to 9nm without any increase in resistance.

These results put the world one step closer to carbon nanotube-based integrated circuits. Such chips could conceivably run at the same speed as current transistors, but use significantly less power.

At maximum power, though, Haensch told me, these carbon nanotube chips could run at significantly faster speeds. Not only does this promise a future of ever faster computers, but it could lead to considerably better battery life for your most trusted companion — the smartphone.

This was an engineering breakthrough, though, that almost wasn’t. After working on the scalability problem for years, Haensch’s team came to him last year with results that shortened the contact length to 20nm.

They said, “Oh, we have something here. We need to publish,” Haensch recalled, who deflated the team’s excitement, telling them, “No, you don’t really have anything.”

Haensch sent them back to the lab telling them not to come back until they could produce something smaller than 10nm. “They were very disappointed they couldn’t write the paper,” said Haensch.

Then, a few months ago, the team returned with new results. “‘We got down to 9nm, and, by the way, we can reproduce the results.”

Haensch was thrilled. “Taking away the early gratification really gave us good results,” he said. It may also have given Moore’s Law a new lease on life and the world an exciting new future of electronics.

The real-life Matrix: MIT researchers reveal interface that can allow a computer to plug into the brain

System could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain

Could lead to devices for treatment of conditions such as Parkinson’s

It has been the holy grail of science fiction – an interface that allows us to plug our brain into a computer.

Now, researchers at MIT have revealed new fibres less than a width of a hair that could make it a reality.

They say their system that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

Christina Tringides, a senior at MIT and member of the research team, holds a sample of the multifunction fiber that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

HOW IT WORKS

The new fibers are made of polymers that closely resemble the characteristics of neural tissues.

The multifunction fiber that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

Combining the different channels could enable precision mapping of neural activity, and ultimately treatment of neurological disorders, that would not be possible with single-function neural probes.

‘We’re building neural interfaces that will interact with tissues in a more organic way than devices that have been used previously,’ said MIT’s Polina Anikeeva, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering.

The human brain’s complexity makes it extremely challenging to study not only because of its sheer size, but also because of the variety of signaling methods it uses simultaneously.

Conventional neural probes are designed to record a single type of signaling, limiting the information that can be derived from the brain at any point in time.

Now researchers at MIT may have found a way to change that.

By producing complex fibers that could be less than the width of a hair, they have created a system that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with simultaneous electrical readout to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

RELATED ARTICLES

The newC technology is described in a paper in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The new fibers are made of polymers that closely resemble the characteristics of neural tissues, Anikeeva says, allowing them to stay in the body much longer without harming the delicate tissues around them.

To do that, her team made use of novel fiber-fabrication technology pioneered by MIT professor of materials science Yoel Fink and his team, for use in photonics and other applications.

The result, Anikeeva explains, is the fabrication of polymer fibers ‘that are soft and flexible and look more like natural nerves.’

Devices currently used for neural recording and stimulation, she says, are made of metals, semiconductors, and glass, and can damage nearby tissues during ordinary movement.

‘It’s a big problem in neural prosthetics,’ Anikeeva says.

The result, Anikeeva explains, is the fabrication of polymer fibers ‘that are soft and flexible and look more like natural nerves.

HOW IT WORKS

The new fibers are made of polymers that closely resemble the characteristics of neural tissues.

The multifunction fiber that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

Combining the different channels could enable precision mapping of neural activity, and ultimately treatment of neurological disorders, that would not be possible with single-function neural probes.

‘We’re building neural interfaces that will interact…

The result, Anikeeva explains, is the fabrication of polymer fibers ‘that are soft and flexible and look more like natural nerves.’

‘They are so stiff, so sharp — when you take a step and the brain moves with respect to the device, you end up scrambling the tissue.’

The key to the technology is making a larger-scale version, called a preform, of the desired arrangement of channels within the fiber: optical waveguides to carry light, hollow tubes to carry drugs, and conductive electrodes to carry electrical signals.

These polymer templates, which can have dimensions on the scale of inches, are then heated until they become soft, and drawn into a thin fiber, while retaining the exact arrangement of features within them.

A single draw of the fiber reduces the cross-section of the material 200-fold, and the process can be repeated, making the fibers thinner each time and approaching nanometer scale.

During this process, Anikeeva says, ‘Features that used to be inches across are now microns.’

Combining the different channels in a single fiber, she adds, could enable precision mapping of neural activity, and ultimately treatment of neurological disorders, that would not be possible with single-function neural probes.

For example, light could be transmitted through the optical channels to enable optogenetic neural stimulation, the effects of which could then be monitored with embedded electrodes.

Combining the different channels in a single fiber, she adds, could enable precision mapping of neural activity, and ultimately treatment of neurological disorders, that would not be possible with single-function neural probes.

At the same time, one or more drugs could be injected into the brain through the hollow channels, while electrical signals in the neurons are recorded to determine, in real time, exactly what effect the drugs are having.

MIT researchers discuss their novel implantable device that can deliver optical signals and drugs to the brain, without harming the brain tissue.

The system can be tailored for a specific research or therapeutic application by creating the exact combination of channels needed for that task. ‘You can have a really broad palette of devices,’ Anikeeva says.

While a single preform a few inches long can produce hundreds of feet of fiber, the materials must be carefully selected so they all soften at the same temperature.

The fibers could ultimately be used for precision mapping of the responses of different regions of the brain or spinal cord, Anikeeva says, and ultimately may also lead to long-lasting devices for treatment of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.

John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering and of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in this research, says, ‘These authors describe a fascinating, diverse collection of multifunctional fibers, tailored for insertion into the brain where they can stimulate and record neural behaviors through electrical, optical, and fluidic means.

The results significantly expand the toolkit of techniques that will be essential to our development of a basic understanding of brain function.’

Disturbing Weapons Used on The Masses

DARPA along with many other technologically advanced government run companies are developing disturbing psychotropic and neurological weaponry that can manipulate the minds of millions. These highly advanced technologies include mind-reading binoculars, mind-controlling helmets, satellite mind reading, chip implants, remote control brain manipulation, and more.

The topic of mind control is elaborate, multifaceted, and multi layered. For the everyday reader, it can easily become mind-numbing, but avoiding the subject is the most foolish thing you could possibly do since your only chance of surviving this menacing enslavement agenda, which today threatens virtually all of humanity, is to understand how it functions and take steps to education yourself. I highly suggest you watch the video below in its entirety, as it is a real eye-opener for what’s coming.

Mind Control Programs Include:

Project Chatter was a US Navy drug testing program that began in the fall of 1947. The program focused on the identification and testing of drugs for use in interrogations and in the recruitment of agents. The research included laboratory experiments on BOTH animals and human subjects involving Anabasis aphylla, LSD, scopolamine, and mescaline drugs in order to determine their speech-inducing qualities. Human test subjects were rounded-up from mental health institutions and forced to take part in experimentation –regardless of their will. Project Chatter is not a conspiracy theory. The government has openly admitted to this programming and although they “supposedly” closed the projects doors in 1953, Project Blue Bird reared its ugly head. (Click Here To Read Government Document on Project Chatter)

Project BlueBird began in 1949. It deliberately created multiple personalities in patients. Experimentation was conducted by psychiatrists to create amnesia, new identities, hypnotic access codes and new memories in the minds of experimental subjects. This project was funded by the CIA, Army, Navy, and Air Force. There was extensive political abuse of psychiatry that was not only perpetrated by a few renegade doctors, but also by leading psychiatrists, psychologists, pharmacologists, neurosurgeons and medical schools. They also rounded up mental patients in hospitals as their test subjects. Again, Project BlueBird is not a conspiracy theory, it is a fact and has been openly admitted by the government. (Click Here to Read Government Document on Project BlueBird)

Project Artichoke was a CIA project that research the interrogation methods that arose from Project BlueBird in 1951. It was run by the CIA’s Office of Scientific Intelligence. This project studied hypnosis, forced morphine addiction, and the use of other chemicals to produce amnesia and other vulnerable states in subjects. Artichoke was a mind control program. Moreover, the scope of the project was outlined in a memo dated January 1952 that stated, “Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self-preservation?” Project Artichoke eventually morphed into MKULTRA in a memorandum by Richard Helms to CIA director Allen Welsh Dulles on April 13, 1953.

MK Ultra was birthed in 1953. The program was a human research operation experimenting in the behavioral engineering of humans through the CIA’s Scientific Intelligence Division. It used numerous methodologies to manipulate people’s mental states and alter brain functions, including: radiation, electroshock, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, the administration of LSD and other drugs, as well as various other forms of torture. It was known to have engaged in many illegal activities, including, using unwilling test subjects in both the U.S. and Canada. The program is still alive and active today. There is no conspiracy theory, again this is a fact. (Click Here to Read Government Documentation on Project MKULTRA)

The Monarch Program is a “sub” program on MKULTRA. It is a form of mind control which creates a mind control slave by utilizing the human brain’s trauma response of disassociation to create a form of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) wherein various triggers can cause the slave personality to surface and respond to commands given by the master.

There are various “stages” of programming (Below information taken from StrangerDimensions.com):

ALPHA: Regarded as “general” or regular programming within the base control personality; characterized by extremely pronounced memory retention, along with substantially increased physical strength and visual acuity. Alpha programming is accomplished through deliberately subdividing the victims personality which, in essence, causes a left brain-right brain division, allowing for a programmed union of L and R through neuron pathway stimulation.”

BETA: Referred to as “sexual” programming. This programming eliminates all learned moral convictions and stimulates the primitive sexual instinct, devoid of inhibitions. “Cat” alters may come out at this level.

DELTA: This is known as “killer” programming, originally developed for training special agents or elite soldiers (i.e. Delta Force, First Earth Battalion, Mossad, etc.) in covert operations. Optimal adrenal output and controlled aggression is evident. Subjects are devoid of fear; very systematic in carrying out their assignment. Self-destruct or suicide instructions are layered in at this level.

THETA: Considered to the “psychic” programming. Bloodliners (those coming from multi-generational Satanic families) were determined to exhibit a greater propensity for having telepathic abilities than did non-bloodliners. Due to its evident limitations, however, various forms of electronic mind control systems were developed and introduced, namely, bio-medical human telemetry devices (brain implants), directed-energy lasers using microwaves and/or electromagnetics. It is reported these are used in conjunction with highly-advanced computers and sophisticated satellite tracking systems.

OMEGA: A “self-destruct” form of programming, also known as “Code Green.” The corresponding behaviors include suicidal tendencies and/or self-mutilation. This program is generally activated when the victim/survivor begins therapy or interrogation and too much memory is being recovered.

GAMMA: Another form of system protection is through “deception” programming, which elicits misinformation and misdirection. This level is intertwined with demonology and tends to regenerate itself at a later time if inappropriately deactivated.”

Pentagon wants to “help” soldiers and seniors by implanting devices to trigger memories

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the military, is continuing to develop implantable brain chips, according to documents newly posted as part of the agency’s increased “transparency” policy.

The agency is seeking to develop a portable, wireless device that “must incorporate implantable probes” to record and stimulate brain activity – in effect, a memory triggering ‘black box’ device.

The process would entail placing wires inside the brain, and under the scalp, with electrical impulses fired up through a transmitter placed under the skin of the chest area.

Bloomberg first picked up the story last week, and since then several tech blogs have jumped on board, describing the technological push as part of a project to help injured soldiers, and part an initiative set up by the Obama administration to find treatments for brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s.

In reality, this project has been ongoing for years, decades in fact. And given that the Pentagon war machine is spear-heading it, with $70m of funding, one must seriously question why the DoD suddenly gives a damn about war wounded vets, never mind everyday Americans with brain disorders.

The documents state that rather than aid general memory loss, such a device would enable the ability to recover “task-based motor skills” like driving cars, operating machinery, tying shoe laces or even flying planes. It would also help recover memory loss surrounding traumatic events – according to the documents.

Memory loss surrounding trauma occurs for a reason, so the individual can, at some point, slowly work back toward living a normal life. One has to wonder, from this description, whether DARPA’s brain implant, would merely facilitate “patching up”, soldiers, and sending them back out to duty, as if they were defective robots.

Indeed, that is the kind of transhumanism project that DARPA revels in. Just last year it was revealed that a DARPA team has constructed a machine that functions like a human brain and would enable robots to think independently and act autonomously.

There have also long been reports of DARPA seeking to develop technology that enables military masters to literally control the brains of soldiers and make them want to fight. A 2008 report for the US military detailed this initiative, along with possible weaponry including “Pharmacological landmines” that release chemicals to incapacitate enemy soldiers and torture techniques that involve delivering electronic pulses into the brains of terror suspects.

The report, titled “Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies”, detailed byWired and the London Guardian, was commissioned by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the intelligence wing of the Department of Defense. It contains scientific research into the workings of the human mind and suggestions for the development of new war fighting technologies based upon the findings.

In a section focusing on mind control, the report states

If we can alter the brain, why not control it? […] One potential use involves making soldiers want to fight. Conversely, how can we disrupt the enemy’s motivation to fight? […] How can we make people trust us more? What if we could help the brain to remove fear or pain? Is there a way to make the enemy obey our commands?

It concludes that “drugs can be utilized to achieve abnormal, diseased, or disordered psychology” and also suggests that scanners able to read the intentions or memories of soldiers could be developed.

The report clearly does not rule out the use of such mind scanning technology on civilians as it suggests that “In situations where it is important to win the hearts and minds of the local populace, it would be useful to know if they understand the information being given them.”

It also suggests that the technology will one day have applications in counter-terrorism and crime-fighting and “might be good enough to help identify people at a checkpoint or counter who are afraid or anxious.”

The notion of “recording” brain activity is also something that DARPA has long sought to master. The concept may seem completely outlandish, yet it has been the central focus of DARPA activities for some time with projects such as LifeLog, which seeks to gain a multimedia, digital record of everywhere a person goes and everything they see, hear, read, say and touch.

On the surface, the project seems like the latest in a long line of DARPA’s “blue sky” research efforts, most of which never make it out of the lab. But DARPA is currently asking businesses and universities for research proposals to begin moving LifeLog forward.

“What national security experts and civil libertarians want to know is, why would the Defense Department want to do such a thing?” the article asks. The answer lies in the stated goal of the US military – “Total Spectrum Dominance”.

Furthermore, assertions that the neuro technology would not be in any way dominant over a person’s capacity to think, does not tally with DARPA’s Brain Machine Interfaces enterprise, a $24 million project reported on in the August 5, 2003 Boston Globe.

The project is developing technology that “promises to directly read thoughts from a living brain – and even instill thoughts as well… It does not take much imagination to see in this the makings of a matrix-like cyberpunk dystopia: chips that impose false memories, machines that scan for wayward thoughts, cognitively augmented government security forces that impose a ruthless order on a recalcitrant population.” The Globe reported.

It is also well documented that the military and the federal government have been dabbling in mind control and manipulation experimentation for decades.

Brain implants are a very scary proposition, however, and selling such a thing to veterans, and especially to the wider American populace, may be a harder task than selling them a pill to pop. Which is why some, including one former DARPA director and now a Google executive, have also been developing devices such as edible chips and e-tattoos.

Transhumanism is trendy!

Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.

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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Update on the emergence of DNA nanobots and nanocomputers.
Nicholas WestThe Human Body Version 2.0 project features none other than arch-Transhumanist Ray Kurzweil as its main proponent. The goals have been openly stated for some time:

In the coming decades, a radical upgrading of our body’s physical and mental systems, already underway, will use nanobots to augment and ultimately replace our organs. We already know how to prevent most degenerative disease through nutrition and supplementation; this will be a bridge to the emerging biotechnology revolution, which in turn will be a bridge to the nanotechnology revolution. By 2030, reverse-engineering of the human brain will have been completed and nonbiological intelligence will merge with our biological brains.

In fact, the reverse engineering of the human brain has already been announced to be well under way via new microchips and accompanying software. And, while full nanobot rewiring of the brain is not expected before 2020, Phys.org has reported that our DNA has been successfully targeted by nanobots “for drug therapy or destruction.”

Taking this even one step further, Ray Kurzweil said in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal (see below) that our extension into non-biological realms will include nanobot computers that will enter our brain and connect us to Cloud computing.

From science fiction horror, directly to the human body, the nanobots are no longer speculation. Also unlike science fiction, they won’t arrive via immediate worldwide takeover — they are already here, and will be introduced incrementally, as Kurzweil has previously stated:

It will be an incremental process, one already well under way. Although version 2.0 is a grand project, ultimately resulting in the radical upgrading of all our physical and mental systems, we will implement it one benign step at a time. Based on our current knowledge, we can already touch and feel the means for accomplishing each aspect of this vision. (emphasis added)

Researchers from Columbia University have developed a fleet of molecular nanorobots that can deliver drugs to specific cells and also identify certain genetic markers by using fluorescent labeling. After such identification, a chain reaction can be initiated:

On cells where all three components are attached, a robot is functional and a fourth component (labeled 0 below) initiates a chain reaction among the DNA strands. Each component swaps a strand of DNA with another, until the end of the swap, when the last antibody obtains a strand of DNA that is fluorescently labeled.

At the end of the chain reaction—which takes less than 15 minutes in a sample of human blood—only cells with the three surface proteins are labeled with the fluorescent marker.

Naturally, this type of targeted therapeutic approach could prove beneficial, as the researchers highlight — especially for cancer treatment which sweeps up healthy cells along with malignant ones, very often doing more harm than good (if one were to choose the establishment medical route).

This is always how new technologies are sold to the public, however, and it would be naive not to consider the darker applications as well.

Direct brain modification already has been packaged as “neuroengineering.” A Wired article from early 2009 highlighted that direct brain manipulation via fiber optics is a bit messy, but once installed “it could make someone happy with the press of a button.” Nanobots take the process to an automated level, rewiring the brain molecule by molecule. Worse, these mini droids can autonomously self-replicate, forcing one to wonder how this genie would ever be put back in the bottle once unleashed.

Here is one scenario offered by Kurzweil for how these nanobots could enter our bodies:

A significant benefit of nanobot technology is that unlike mere drugs and nutritional supplements, nanobots have a measure of intelligence. They can keep track of their own inventories, and intelligently slip in and out of our bodies in clever ways. One scenario is that we would wear a special “nutrient garment” such as a belt or undershirt. This garment would be loaded with nutrient bearing nanobots, which would make their way in and out of our bodies through the skin or other body cavities. (emphasis added)

That might seem to offer a level of participatory choice — to wear or not to wear the garment — but Kurzweil reveals that the nanobots will eventually be everywhere:

Ultimately we won’t need to bother with special garments or explicit nutritional resources. Just as computation will eventually be ubiquitous and available everywhere, so too will basic metabolic nanobot resources be embedded everywhere in our environment.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kurzweil highlights why Google has taken an interest in nanotechnology and the possibilities he sees for humans as they increasingly become non-biological and form direct connections with computers, augmenting and/or supplanting our natural processes as we head into the era of cyborgs and beyond:

And of course once our neocortex is uploaded to the Cloud, it positions Google perfectly for searching our every thought and pre-thought. While this might sound like an impossible amount of information to upload, let alone interconnect and search, it is being announced that researchers have designed the first nanocomputer that can push beyond the concept of Moore’s Law, which imposes a theoretical limitation on the expansion of computer processing power.

The team designed and assembled, from the bottom up, a functioning, ultra-tiny control computer that is the densest nanoelectronic system ever built.

The ultra-small, ultra-low-power control processor—termed a nanoelectronic finite-state machine or “nanoFSM”—is smaller than a human nerve cell.

[…]

In their recent collaboration they combined several tiles on a single chip to produce a first-of-its-kind complex, programmable nanocomputer. (Source)

It shouldn’t be seen as coincidence that these developments are happening simultaneously. What appears on the surface to be discoveries in entirely different fields are coalescing rapidly as we approach the theoretical date of The Singularity – the full merger of human and machine – estimated to occur between 2029-2045.

Despite the benign language of futurists, we know that a concerted effort is already underway to manage and predict human behavior for a whole range of potentially anti-human applications. As our free will is also targeted like the cells of our body — for drug therapy or elimination — ethical concerns must be voiced loud and clear. Scientists seem content with opening Pandora’s Box, then worrying about negative consequences later … and that is only if we assume that their intentions are benign from the beginning. One should take time to examine the history of military experimentation on human populations to see all of this through a very different lens.

At the very least, instead of the fully realized vision of Human Body 2.0, this might be Big Pharma 2.0 — a new phase where conventional drugs are incrementally replaced by nanodrugs and nano-fleet delivery systems. Coupled with applications that directly enter our brain to connect us to the computer matrix, we are rapidly entering an entirely new human paradigm.

The funding is already there, and a massive amount of money is waiting to be made by companies like Google. Here again, for those who might only see the bright side to this technology, we ought to question who is really in control of it.

Mind Control in the 21st Century—Science Fiction and Beyond

Mind Control in the 21st Century—Science Fiction & Beyond

… by Steven DiBasio

Is it coming to a home near you?

Conspiracy Theory?

“Mind control” is a topic commonly perceived as “conspiracy theory” or “X-Files” fare. That is, it is seen as possibly not “real,” and certainly not something about which one should be “overly” concerned.

This attitude at least partially arises from the widespread belief or assumption that the human brain is so complicated—(“the most complex entity in the universe” is a common formulation)—that it has not, and perhaps cannot, be comprehended in any depth.

One writer, for example, describes the brain as of “perhaps infinite” complexity,[1] while another, David Brooks of the New York Times, writes that it is “probably impossible” that “a map of brain activity” could reveal mental states such as emotions and desires.[2]

Similarly, Andrew Sullivan, blogger and former editor of The New Republic, opines that neuroscience is still in its “infancy,” and that we have only begun “scratching the surface” of the human brain, and links to a New Yorker piece in support of that position.[3]

And the cover story for the October 2004 issue of Discovery Magazine entitled “The Myth Of Mind Control” advises the reader that while mind control is a “familiar science-fiction” staple, there is little reason for real concern, because actually deciphering the “neural code” would be akin to figuring out other “great scientific mysteries” such as the “origin of the universe and of life on Earth,” and is therefore hardly likely.[4]

According to the article, as the brain is “the most significant mystery in science” and quite possibly “the hardest to solve,”[5] mind control remains at worst a distant concern.

The underlying idea seems to be that sophisticated mind control is unlikely without understanding the brain; and we do not understand the brain.

________________________________

Understanding the “Neural Code”

Of course, one might question the notion that a full understanding of the “neural code” is a prerequisite for mind control since it is not always necessary to know how something works for it to be effective. Nonetheless, the assumption that the brain is so complex that little progress has been made in “solving” it is itself incorrect.

As neuroscientist Michael Persinger has said, the “great mythology” of the brain is that it is “beyond our understanding; no it’s not.”[6] In fact, according to inventor and “futurist” Ray Kurzweil, “very detailed mathematical models of several dozen regions of the human brain and how they work….”[7] had already been developed over a decade ago.

Kurzweil also said at that time that science is “further along in understanding the principles of operation of the human brain than most people realize….”[8] While the brain may be complicated, “it’s not that complicated (emphasis added).”[9]

Similarly, an Air Force report from 1995, in a section entitled “Biological Process Control,” predicts that before 2050 “… [w]e will have achieved a clear understanding of how the human brain works, how it really controls the various functions of the body, and how it can be manipulated…:”[10]

One can envision the development of electromagnetic energy sources … that can couple with the human body in a fashion that will allow one to prevent voluntary muscular movements, control emotions (and thus actions), produce sleep, transmit suggestions, interfere with … memory, produce an experience set, and delete an experience set. [11]

As disturbing as such “predictions” may be, is it possible that technologies to prevent (or perhaps even impel) muscular movement, control emotions, transmit suggestions, delete memories, create false memories, and so on, have already been developed?

Certainly, even a cursory review of the “open literature” reveals that various sophisticated mind control technologies already exist.[12] Indeed, it is rather shocking to realize how advanced mind control technology was, even several decades ago.

“Altering brain waves”

For example, there is the 1974 invention of Robert G. Malech for which a patent was granted in 1976 and assigned to defense contractor Dorne & Margolin, Inc.—for a method of “remotely monitoring and altering brain waves.”[13]

Moreover, experiments conducted over thirty years ago at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) showed that basic mind reading from EEG readouts was possible, revealing the existence of “a non-symbolic language” of “brain-wave patterns” which could be deciphered and translated.[14]

Indeed, “…[b]y the late 1960s … ‘remote control’ of the human brain—accomplished without the implantation of electrodes—was well on its way to being realized.”[15] A means of stimulating a brain “by creating an electrical field completely outside the head” was developed,[16] and it was discovered that electric pulses could stimulate the brain using far less energy than previously “thought … effectual in the old implanting technique.”[17]

Not surprisingly, with such developments arose legitimate fears of a future world where “human robots” would perform the bidding of the “military.”[18]

And one source quotes a 1970s Pentagon agency report as saying that it will likely be possible in “several years” to induce sounds and words directly into the brain (bypassing the ears), as well as to use “combinations of frequencies and other signal characteristics to produce other neurological effects….,”[19]

The report notes that the Soviets had observed “various changes in body chemistry” and “functioning” of the brain from the exposure of the brain to various frequencies.[20] Also mentioned are studies at MIT showing that “magnetic brain waves can be picked up … and amplified as if the brain were a radio transmitter,” no implants or electrodes required.[21]

Finally, an article from 1981 describes how “microwave generators” placed in appropriate locations and transmitting at low energy would create “interference patterns” out of the interaction with brainwaves (brain electricity).

These interference patterns “could then be built up by computer into a three-dimensional moving picture of mental processes”—in other words, a remote “thought scanner” (and tracking device) could be developed.[22]

__________________________________

Recent “Advances”

Subjected to outside influences

In light of these past developments, it is perhaps rather surprising to read modern articles describing supposedly recent innovations in “mind reading” and mind control technology – in which it is sometimes claimed, for example, that scanners, electrodes and proximity to the subject is required to read and “control” minds.

Such claims reflect an apparent failure of the science of “mind control” to progress as one might have expected considering the presumed interest, as well as the spectacular rate of advancement of science and technology in general in recent decades.

Of course, it would not be all that surprising if mind control technology has advanced considerably, but that research has been carried out in secret for reasons of “national security.”

CIA affiliated scientists have certainly conducted much research which they have been prohibited from sharing with their peers,[23] and inventions that implicate “national security” are routinely suppressed under Pentagon secrecy orders.[24] Also, it might seem desirable to hide research programs which sometimes “require” relaxation of ethical standards, such as that of informed consent.

That said, even ignoring the likely existence of a “secret science” of mind control, recent public advancements are quite troubling in their own right.

Some examples:

“New connections” are being made all the time.

1) In 2004, 25,000 rat neurons on a glass dish learned to fly an F-22 jet fighter simulator.[25] After scientists placed the neurons on the dish, the neurons quickly began “to reconnect themselves, forming a living neural network—a brain.”[26]

The lead scientist added that “one day,” though of course a “long way off,” disembodied brains might actually be used to fly drones,[27] though the current experiment was merely to enhance knowledge of how the brain works, and possibly provide “clues to brain dysfunction.”[28]

2) In August 2013, researchers revealed that “miniature” human brains had been grown in the laboratory.[29] As is typical, any negative implications or reasons for worry were minimized, while possible “therapeutic” uses were highlighted. Thus, the breakthrough was hailed as a great opportunity to understand “developmental defects.” Though the writer does mention “the spectre of what the future might hold,” the reader is reassured that the research is “primitive territory”[30]—though one researcher did comment on the “undesirability” of growing larger laboratory brains.[31]

3) On July 1, 2013, a magazine reported a claim by neuroscientist Sergio Canavero that it was now feasible to transplant the head of one human to the body of another and reattach the spinal cord.[32]

4) Scientists have reconstructed random images viewed by subjects, from fMRI brain scans, in research that “hints” that “one day” scientists might be able to “access dreams, memories and imagery….”[33]

5) The brains of two rats have been linked, such that one, located in North Carolina, responded “telepathically” to the thoughts of the other, located in Brazil.[34] The second rat’s brain processed signals from the first rat’s brain, delivered over the internet, as if they were its own. The scientist speculated about the “future possibility” of a “biological computer, in which numerous brains are connected….”[35]

6) A brain-to-brain interface has been created, allowing humans to move a rat’s tail just by thinking about it.[36] Readers are told that while it is not yet possible to “communicate brain to brain with our fellow humans … we may be on our way to … controlling” other species.[37] But, since it is “still very early days” the writer “hope(s)” that any ethical concerns can be “iron(ed) out.”[38] Of note, the study used focused ultrasound to deliver impulses to the rat’s brain.[39]

7) Continuing the ultrasound “theme”: Focused pulses of low intensity low frequency ultrasound, transmitted noninvasively through the skull to the human brain, have been shown capable of producing, not only pain, but also sound, as well as evoking “sensory stimuli.”[40] Accordingly, a lab with a “close working relationship” with DARPA, the Department of Defense, and U.S. Intelligence communities, has been looking into using pulsed ultrasound to encode “sensory data onto the cortex”; in other words, producing hallucinations through the remote and direct stimulation of brain circuits.[41] Possibilities are the ability to “remotely control brain activity” and the “creation of artificial memories.”[42] Even Sony has gotten in on the act, patenting a device for using ultrasound to produce hallucinations—again described as “transmitting sensory data directly into the human brain.”[43] Most troublingly, one source recently alleged that the NSA is using this ultrasound technology to target individuals through their smartphones.[44]

8) A researcher was able to make a fellow researcher in a different office move his finger just by thinking about it, in the “first” demonstration of a human brain-to-brain interface.[45]

9) A low cost means of tracking people, even through walls, has been developed. While in the past individuals could be tracked anywhere by the “military” using radar technology, this technology might enable entities with fewer resources to track people as well.[46]

10) Scientists have remote controlled a worm by implanting magnetic nanoparticles into it, and then exposing the animal to a “radiofrequency magnetic field” which stimulated its neurons. The scientists suggest that their research could lead to “innovative cancer treatments” and “improved diabetes therapies,” as well as

11) Americans can now be spied on in their homes through their internet-connected appliances, according to (former) CIA Director David Petraeus.

Petraeus made his statements at about the same time a huge microchip company, ARM, unveiled new processors which will connect home appliances such as refrigerators, washers and driers to the internet.[48]

12) LED lights have been ostensibly pushed for their efficiency over traditional bulbs. However, LED lights are also semiconductors capable of inducing “biological and behavior effects.”[49]

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“Breakaway” Science?

Nural Codes

While the aforementioned public developments are quite concerning, the reality is they may not actually represent the true state of the art in “mind control” technology.

It would not be that surprising, after all, for a domain with national security implications to at some point in its development branch off onto separate “tracks,” one public and the other “hidden.”

If such a bifurcation were to occur, advancements made in secret would not necessarily be incorporated into the public sphere. Eventually perhaps, innovations and breakthroughs would result in the development of an essentially new, covert science.

An example of a domain in which this bifurcation process seems to have occurred is aviation. In the public sphere, the most advanced aircraft might well be the F-22 fighter jet, or perhaps the F-35. However, if insider testimony is credited, these aircraft seem almost primitive in comparison with flying machines developed in secret.

Perhaps the most compelling statements in this regard come from Ben Rich, former Director of Lockheed-Martin’s Advanced Development Projects, or “Skunk Works,” a Lockheed division notable for its super high-tech, top secret projects, among them the U2 spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird.

As Joseph P. Farrell’s reports in his book Saucers, Swastikas, and Psyops, Rich made a number of peculiar and provocative comments at the end of his career, and following his retirement on December 31, 1990 (prior to his death five years later), comments strongly hinting at “the development of … an off-the-books physics and technology….”[50]

For example, on September 7, 1988, in a presentation to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Atlanta, Georgia, Rich lamented that he was prohibited from discussing Skunkwork’s current projects, but he did say that they “call for technologies once only dreamed of by science fiction writers.”[51]

In ensuing years, Rich elaborated slightly. For instance, while speaking to the UCLA School of Engineering Alumni Association in 1993, Rich said that “an error in the equations” had been discovered and corrected, making it possible “to travel to the stars.”[52] He added, however, that “these technologies are so locked up in black programs, that it would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity.”[53]

Ben Rich – Who saw it it…lived it all.

Farrell goes on to relay a statement from an unnamed Lockheed retired engineer who was quoted in a magazine article in 1988 as saying that “we have things flying in the Nevada desert that would make George Lucas drool.”[54] In the same article an Air Force officer involved in the development of the SR-71 said “[w]e are testing vehicles that defy description.

To compare them conceptually to the SR-71 would be like comparing Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute design to the space shuttle.” And a retired Colonel chimed in: “We have things that are so far beyond the comprehension of the average aviation authority as to be really alien to our way of thinking.” [55]

Consider then for a moment the possibility that within the classified world, in 1993, a technology, to quote Ben Rich, “to take ET back home” had already been developed.[56] The implications are enormous, not to mention rather frightening. One wonders where the technology must be in 2014, more than twenty years later.

And if the aforementioned statements are true, and this seems plausible (why would these individuals lie, or even exaggerate, especially to Engineering Associations and Aeronautics institutes), what might this imply about the current state of the art in domains other than aviation, such as neuroscience, which has itself been the subject of intense “weaponization” efforts.

Indeed, what does such a vast discrepancy between what people believe and what is actually true suggest about the nature of our perceived reality in general?

Steven DiBasio is a writer, attorney, and sometime musician. He lives in the Midwest. And more will be on the way. He can be reached at: steven.dibasio@gmail.com

Mind Control? Scientists Have Discovered How To Use Nanoparticles To Remotely Control Behavior!

By Michael Snyder, on July 8th, 2010

We are moving into a time when the extraordinary advances that have been made in the fields of nanotechnology, neurology, psychology, computer science, telecommunications and artificial intelligence will be used by governmental authorities to control the population? Already, governments around the world are using the threat of “terror” as an excuse to watch us, track us, scan all of our electronic communications and force us to endure “security measures” that are so extreme that even George Orwell could have never dreamed them up. So what is going to happen one day when some crazed individual actually does set off a weapon of mass destruction in a major city? The temptation to use these emerging technologies to control the public will become almost irresistible. At this point “mind control” is still a dirty word to many, but after the next couple of “9/11 style events” the general population will be crying out for something to be done to ensure their security. When society experiences a complete and total meltdown in the years ahead, governments around the world will be tempted to do just about anything, including using mind control, to restore order. That is why some of the most recent advances in the field on nanotechnology are so chilling.

In particular, what a team of researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered is truly alarming. The following is an excerpt from their recent news release….

Clusters of heated, magnetic nanoparticles targeted to cell membranes can remotely control ion channels, neurons and even animal behavior, according to a paper published by University at Buffalo physicists in Nature Nanotechnology.

Using nanoparticles to remotely control animal behavior?

It doesn’t take a doctorate to understand the implications of such a technology.

What if “nanobots” that had the capacity to control human minds were programmed to search out and attach themselves to key areas of the human brain?

Such “nanobots” would be far too small to even be seen by the human eye, and people could become “infected” with these creatures without even knowing it.

Hordes of these nanobots could be released into the atmosphere or in public areas and infect thousands (or even millions) and nobody might even realize it.

If governments could find a way to use nanobots to remotely control the minds of the general population, a mass mind control program could be implemented without the general public even realizing what is going on.

Yes, this is just how scary this technology is.

But it gets even worse.

You see, when it comes to nanotechnology we are dealing with something far more dangerous than we can even imagine.

For example, if something goes horribly wrong and we develop speed-breeding self-assembling nanobots that get out of control, they could theoretically devour all life on Earth in fairly short order.

Think of the scene at the end of the recent Keanu Reeves movie entitled “The Day The Earth Stood Still” and multiply it by about a million.

But even if such a scenario never plays out, the mind control potential of nanotechnology is bad enough.

Not that other mind control technologies aren’t equally as dangerous.

The truth is that all kinds of mind control technologies are being developed.

Video game makers are busy developing games that you control not with a joystick or a gamepad but rather with your brain waves. So could such a technology someday be used in reverse?

Of course most people by now have heard of MK-ULTRA and other mind control programs that were developed by the CIA and other U.S. government agencies.

The U.S. government insists that all such programs have been discontinued.

But are they telling the truth?

And what are other governments around the world developing in secret?

There are other mind control technologies out there that are incredibly dangerous as well.

In fact, there are many who suggest that electromagnetic waves could potentially be used to control thoughts and influence behavior. Think of what just one terrorist could do with such technology.

But one of the most disturbing developments of all is the increasingly rapid merger of men and machines that is now taking place.

People have been looking for ways to stay more “connected” to the Internet for a long time, and now some are actually suggesting that we should find a way to directly connect our brains to the Internet. A recent article on the website of the Science Channel put it this way….

What if it were possible to connect your brain to the Internet, either wirelessly or through a cable, download digital information at high speed, and then translate it automatically into a chemical form that could be stored by your brain cells as memory?

The same article explained what some of the benefits from such a connection might be….

If you could pump data directly into your gray matter at, say, 50 mbps — the top speed offered by one major U.S. internet service provider — you’d be able to read a 500-page book in just under two-tenths of a second.

But what about the dangers?

What if the Internet could end up controlling you?

Or what if a really bad computer virus was downloaded into your brain?

Think it can’t happen?

Well, British researcher Mark Gasson infected an RFID chip in his hand with a computer virus and found that the virus-infected chip implanted in his hand was able to contaminate external systems.

Imagine if that started happening on a large scale.

And someday it might.

Especially as we approach the time that futurists refer to as “The Singularity”.

The Singularity is hard to define, but basically many futurists believe that the merging of man and technology is happening at such an increasingly rapid pace that at some point the new “transhumans” will become virtually incomprehensible to normal human beings. The idea is that by merging man and machines, transhumans will become smarter, stronger, healthier and more powerful than we could have ever dreamed possible.

So will men and computers fully merge someday?

Let’s hope not.

But even now, an increasing number of people are developing ways to tag humans with RFID microchips.

In fact, one company called Somark has developed a breakthrough in chipless RFID ink. Their “RFID tattoos” are applied using a geometric array of micro-needles and a reusable applicator with a one-time-use ink capsule.

So how easy is it to apply one of these RFID tattoos?

Well, it takes about 5 to 10 seconds to tattoo an animal or a human. Once the tattoo has been applied, an RFID reader can read it from up to four feet away.

But who needs a tattoo? IBM has actually announced that they have developed a “bar code reader” that can read your DNA.

Very frightening stuff.

The truth is that the vast majority of people do not want their DNA scanned and they do not want RFID chips implanted into them.

The truth is that there are some people who are quite eager to be chipped. One columnist named Don Tennant recently published an article entitled “Chip Me – Please!” in which he expressed his excitement that Barack Obama’s new health law may include coverage for RFID chip implants that contain patient identification and health information. In fact, Tennant makes the following stunning admission in his article….

All I can say is I’d be the first person in line for an implant.

So is this our future?

Is everyone going to be taking lots of microchips and implants?

Will there come a day when microchips and implants are made mandatory?

After all, what better way to truly identify someone? Identification cards and papers can be forged or can get lost. But if you implant someone with a microchip how are they going to lose that?

However, we all know that the potential for abuse of all of the technologies mentioned in this article is just too great. If someday a tyrannical regime gets a hold of these kinds of ultra-powerful technologies the results could be absolutely nightmarish.

Advances in neuroscience are closer than ever to becoming a reality, but scientists are warning the military – along with their peers – that with great power comes great responsibility

A future of brain-controlled tanks, automated attack drones and mind-reading interrogation techniques may arrive sooner than later, but advances in neuroscience that will usher in a new era of combat come with tough ethical implications for both the military and scientists responsible for the technology, according to one of the country’s leading bioethicists.

[See pictures of Navy SEALs]Moreno warns in an essay published in the science journal PLoS Biology Tuesday that the military’s interest in neuroscience advancements “generates a tension in its relationship with science.”

“The goals of national security and the goals of science may conflict. The latter employs rigorous standards of validation in the expansion of knowledge, while the former depends on the most promising deployable solutions for the defense of the nation,” he writes.

Much of neuroscience focuses on returning function to people with traumatic brain injuries, he says. Just as Albert Einstein didn’t know his special theory of relativity could one day be used to create a nuclear weapon, neuroscience research intended to heal could soon be used to harm.

“Neuroscientists may not consider how their work contributes to warfare,” he adds.

Moreno says there is a fine line between using neuroscience devices to allow an injured person to regain baseline functions and enhancing someone’s body to perform better than their natural body ever could.

“Where one draws that line is not obvious, and how one decides to cross that line is not easy. People will say ‘Why would we want to deny warfighters these advantages?'” he says.

Moreno isn’t the only one thinking about this. The Brookings Institution’s Peter Singer writes in his book, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, that “‘the Pentagon’s real-world record with things like the aboveground testing of atomic bombs, Agent Orange, and Gulf War syndrome certainly doesn’t inspire the greatest confidence among the first generation of soldiers involved [in brain enhancement research.]”

The military, scientists and ethicists are increasingly wondering how neuroscience technology changes the battlefield. The staggering possibilities are further along than many think. There is already development on automated drones that are programmed to make their own decisions about who to kill within the rules of war. Other ideas that are closer-than-you-think to becoming a military reality: Tanks controlled from half a world away, memory erasures that could prevent PTSD, and “brain fingerprinting” that could be used to extract secrets from enemies.Moreno foretold some of these developments when he first published Mind Wars in 2006, but not without trepidation.

“I was afraid I’d be dismissed as a paranoid schizophrenic when I first published the book,” he says. But then a funny thing happened—the Department of Defense and other military groups began holding panels on neurotechnology to determine how and when it should be used. I was surprised how quickly the policy questions moved forward. Questions like: ‘Can we use autonomous attack drones?’ ‘Must there be a human being in the vehicle?’ ‘How much of a payload can it have?’. There are real questions coming up in the international legal community.”

All of those questions will have to be answered sooner than later, Moreno says, along with a host of others. Should soldiers have the right to refuse “experimental” brain implants? Will the military want to use some of this technology before science deems it safe?

“There’s a tremendous tension about this,” he says. “There’s a great feeling of responsibility that we push this stuff out so we’re ahead of our adversaries.”

A voice recognition program translated a speech given by Richard F. Rashid, Microsoft’s top scientist, into Mandarin Chinese.

Using an artificial intelligence technique inspired by theories about how the brain recognizes patterns, technology companies are reporting startling gains in fields as diverse as computer vision, speech recognition and the identification of promising new molecules for designing drugs.

A student team led by the computer scientist Geoffrey E. Hinton used deep-learning technology to design software.

The technology, called deep learning, has already been put to use in services like Apple’s Siri virtual personal assistant, which is based on Nuance Communications’ speech recognition service, and in Google’s Street View, which uses machine vision to identify specific addresses.

But what is new in recent months is the growing speed and accuracy of deep-learning programs, often called artificial neural networks or just “neural nets” for their resemblance to the neural connections in the brain.

“There has been a number of stunning new results with deep-learning methods,” said Yann LeCun, a computer scientist at New York University who did pioneering research in handwriting recognition at Bell Laboratories. “The kind of jump we are seeing in the accuracy of these systems is very rare indeed.”

Artificial intelligence researchers are acutely aware of the dangers of being overly optimistic. Their field has long been plagued by outbursts of misplaced enthusiasm followed by equally striking declines.

In the 1960s, some computer scientists believed that a workable artificial intelligence system was just 10 years away. In the 1980s, a wave of commercial start-ups collapsed, leading to what some people called the “A.I. winter.”

But recent achievements have impressed a wide spectrum of computer experts. In October, for example, a team of graduate students studying with the University of Toronto computer scientist Geoffrey E. Hinton won the top prize in a contest sponsored by Merck to design software to help find molecules that might lead to new drugs.

From a data set describing the chemical structure of thousands of different molecules, they used deep-learning software to determine which molecule was most likely to be an effective drug agent.

The achievement was particularly impressive because the team decided to enter the contest at the last minute and designed its software with no specific knowledge about how the molecules bind to their targets. The students were also working with a relatively small set of data; neural nets typically perform well only with very large ones.

“This is a really breathtaking result because it is the first time that deep learning won, and more significantly it won on a data set that it wouldn’t have been expected to win at,” said Anthony Goldbloom, chief executive and founder of Kaggle, a company that organizes data science competitions, including the Merck contest.

Advances in pattern recognition hold implications not just for drug development but for an array of applications, including marketing and law enforcement. With greater accuracy, for example, marketers can comb large databases of consumer behavior to get more precise information on buying habits. And improvements in facial recognition are likely to make surveillance technology cheaper and more commonplace.

Artificial neural networks, an idea going back to the 1950s, seek to mimic the way the brain absorbs information and learns from it. In recent decades, Dr. Hinton, 64 (a great-great-grandson of the 19th-century mathematician George Boole, whose work in logic is the foundation for modern digital computers), has pioneered powerful new techniques for helping the artificial networks recognize patterns.

Modern artificial neural networks are composed of an array of software components, divided into inputs, hidden layers and outputs. The arrays can be “trained” by repeated exposures to recognize patterns like images or sounds.

These techniques, aided by the growing speed and power of modern computers, have led to rapid improvements in speech recognition, drug discovery and computer vision.

Last year, for example, a program created by scientists at the Swiss A. I. Lab at the University of Lugano won a pattern recognition contest by outperforming both competing software systems and a human expert in identifying images in a database of German traffic signs.

The winning program accurately identified 99.46 percent of the images in a set of 50,000; the top score in a group of 32 human participants was 99.22 percent, and the average for the humans was 98.84 percent.